Were priests just dressed in secular garb in the early church?

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Were priests just dressed in secular garb in the early church?

Yes.

It seems that in the early centuries of Christianity no distinctive dress was adopted by ecclesiastics. 1

In the sixth and following centuries we find that in Rome and in countries near Rome the civil dress of the clergy began markedly to differ from that of the laity, the reason probably being that the former adhered to the old Roman type of costume with its long tunic and voluminous cloak, representing the toga, whereas the laity were increasingly inclined to adopt the short tunic, with breeches and mantle, of the gens braccata, i.e. the Northern barbarians, who were now the masters of Italy. 1

The article I cited further explains how we know.

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